Drinking Water News You Need: Drought Solutions In California, Controversy Over Water Shut-Offs In Detroit, Students Work to Bring Clean Water to Border Towns and Musicians Of All Types Help Support Clean Water Awareness

by admin on July 22, 2014

California’s unprecedented drought conditions generated two stories last week, each illustrating a different extreme when it comes to conserving the area’s water.

First up, in the video above, CBS Local out of San Francisco shares more on the efforts of state officials to crack down on water wasters.

Activities such as excessive lawn watering, washing cars without a hose shut-off nozzle or spraying down sidewalks and driveways could result in fines of up to $500. In addition to relying on the word of watchful neighbors, officials have empowered any public worker (including dog catchers, as the story suggests) to write tickets to those found using an excessive amount of water.

On the other side of the extreme, is this report out of San Jose, sharing more on the opening of a water recycling plant capable of purifying eight millions gallons of water daily. The $72 million water purification plant was built to address the need for future water demands, in the face of recurring droughts, climate change and regulatory restrictions. Learn more about the workings of this new water purification plant in the story linked above.

In Other Drinking Water News:

Why Is Water Being Shut-Off In Detroit?John Nichols of The Cap Times writes an interesting piece on the current water situation in parts of Detroit. In line with direction from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who imposed emergency manager control last year, water has been shut-off for approximately 17,000 homes and businesses behind on their water bills. Such action has prompted Michigan Congressman John Conyers to ask why “in the 21st century, in the wealthiest nation on Earth, some must go without safe, clean water.”

What makes this issue more complicated than a simple humanitarian issue is that the cost of water is rising, for reasons detailed in this article, including limited access and population shift. So while many families in Detroit are struggling to simply pay their water bills, utilities are finding it more challenging to affordably provide clean water.

While the solution to this issue is undoubtedly tied up in today’s political discourse, our hope is that – as Conyers states, the fact that many in the wealthiest nation are going without clean drinking water -prompts both sides to bipartisanship first, with action following closely behind.

Iowa Farmers Asked To Do More To Protect Water Quality
The theme above can be seen reflected in two stories over the last week. The first comes from Iowa Public Radio, which quotes Iowa Geological Survey research scientist Keith Schilling, in saying that water quality has not significantly improved in the state since the 1980s.

“If we want to see improvement, we’re going to have to make changes on a large scale,” quotes Schilling. “If you take a watershed like the Cedar River, for example, that’s 6500 square miles. There are a lot of farmers in that watershed. What percentage of those need to do something to make a difference?”

Radio Iowa, meanwhile shares more on a report from the Iowa Policy Project indicating that the state and famers are not working together effectively enough when it comes to fighting pollution.

“We’re putting a lot of money out the door in these little watersheds to see whether people around the watershed can really get farmers to start acting and really start reducing pollution, but there’s no requirement that there’s any monitoring that goes on, so we’re not really going to know how well they’re working,” IPP founder David Osterberg says.

As with the handling the rising costs of water, delicately balancing the needs of Iowa’s agricultural industry with the needs of all residents to be able to depend on high quality water, is an issue that we hope to more movement and resolution on soon.

Water Quality Grants Awarded to New OrleansMore than $338,000 in water quality grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been awarded to the New Orleans area, as reported last week. The grants, designed to educate the public on water issues in the area, will center specifically on how water pollution can be reduced in Lake Pontchartrain. Read more about what these grants mean to the New Orleans area in the article above.

Illinois College Student Calls Out Clean Water As A Basic Right
Writing for Vidette Online, the news source of Illinois State University, senior Chris Chipman is calling out the trend of water privatization and its resulting view of water as a commodity. Chipman writes, “The privatization of water leads to it being treated as a ‘marketable commodity’ instead of an essential aspect of human survival. When water is treated in this way, the poor are most affected. These people do not have access to clean drinking water because of privatization, and resort to drinking dirty water that can make them extremely ill.” I encourage you to read the rest of Chipman’s article above, and to revisit this post contributed to our blog last year from college student Mona Dai, who shared her thoughts on how best to end the global water shortage.

Musicians Of All Ages Help Support Clean Water
Collective admiration goes out to two very different musicians this week, both of whom are doing what they can to support clean water awareness. First up is Christian rapper Bizzle, who as 107 JAMZ in Louisiana reports, is dedicating 100% of all album profits to the fight for clean water.

Next up is 14-year old Cheryl Oldland, a Kansas teen who organized a benefit concert last year with her friends in support of water charity, The Last Well. In total, her event raised $2,000 to help build clean water wells in Liberia. This article, shared by The Wichita Eagle, gives more information on this year’s concert, scheduled for August 8th.

You are encouraged to read both articles above, and for those of you in the Wichita, Kansas area, you are highly encouraged to attend Oldland’s event to show your support for clean water.

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